State lawmakers continue to provide the citizens of Pennsylvania with a civics lesson on how things work in Harrisburg. And so far, the lesson is both sobering and frustrating.

The stealth pay-raise vote, taken at 2 a.m. on July 7 with no advance notice to the public and no debate from lawmakers, has piqued the public's interest in the workings of the legislature - and in the state constitution, which appears to clearly prohibit the use of "unvouchered expenses" as a way to pocket the extra money quickly.

The latest civics lesson to emerge from Harrisburg will focus on the power of the leadership in the House and Senate to ignore or reject the will of the people. It has become clear that party leaders orchestrated the passage of the controversial pay-raise vote that they knew the public would oppose. A handful of pay-raise opponents in the General Assembly have begun efforts to repeal the pay hike, and specifically to prohibit the use of unvouchered expenses. The success of these efforts will provide another illuminating look at the power and priorities of Pennsylvania's legislative leadership.

So far, it appears that leadership's power is nearly impossible to check. It is also becoming increasingly clear that the priorities of House and Senate leadership are the high-ranking politicians themselves, not the citizens of Pennsylvania.

By all accounts, the effort to repeal the pay raise faces an uphill battle. Leaders from both parties have essentially vowed to kill any efforts to roll back the controversial pay raise, that boosted pay between 16 to 54 percent. And, it appears party leaders have the power to do just that, despite the fact that outraged citizens have voiced their opposition to the pay raise and the way in which it was handled since early in July.

But Pennsylvania lawmakers, particularly those in leadership positions, have little to fear from voters. They know that if they want to pass a pay raise that most voters oppose, they can do it with little fear of any adverse consequences. If they want to use bogus expense reports, known in Harrisburg as unvouchered expenses, to put the extra money in their pockets immediately - despite a clear prohibition of that in the state's constitution - they can do that also.

Legislative power has been consolidated into the hands of a few party leaders while the rank-and-file lawmakers have cooperated in ceding control to leadership in exchange for re-election support and financial goodies that they can take back to their home districts.

The power of incumbency, combined with the cumulative effect of redistricting efforts by both parties that have created districts that are a near lock for one party or the other, have given most members of the General Assembly the feeling of invulnerability. And that, in turn, has evolved into the arrogance now on display in Harrisburg.

Citizens can almost hear the handful of leadership pols laughing at the small group of rank-and-file lawmakers working to repeal the pay increase and ban the use of unvouchered expenses. Will such efforts ever make it to a vote? Not unless the support is overwhelming. Unfortunately, it is not clear whether enough lawmakers are willing to risk the ire of their party leaders to do the right thing.

House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, who saw his salary jump 34 percent to $145,000, said there will be no vote on the repeal bill without 102 votes, or a slight majority of the 203-member House. If such a vote were taken, many observers believe it has a good chance of passing, so leadership will work to see that there is never a vote on repealing the pay hike or banning unvouchered expenses.

In this case, party leaders and pay-hike defenders are not Democrats or Republicans - they are simply self-serving incumbents. And voters, on this issue at least, are not Republicans or Democrats, they are simply angry, frustrated citizens feeling as though their government has been hijacked.

As the pay hike issue continues to dog lawmakers, the voters must keep the pressure on to demand not only repeal, but a list of associated reforms - such as obeying the state constitution. Lawmakers will make every effort to change the subject, but the July 7 pay raise will not go away - at least until after the next election, in November 2006.

- J.L.W.III